Outerwear garments such as raincoats, ski jackets, fishing jackets, hunting jackets, and other kinds of jackets often include a hood to help protect the wearer's head and upper body from the elements. Hoods may be permanently attached, or they may be detachable. In many instances, the hoods are water resistant or waterproof to help keep the head and upper body dry from precipitation.
Head coverings such as hoods often obstruct the vision of the wearer because the head may tend to move too independently relative to the hood. For example, a hood attached to a jacket will either not turn or not turn completely with a turn of the head. Thus, when a person turns his head to the left (or right) and attempts to look left (or right), the hood may remain substantially in its original position, or near to its original position. This obstructs the view to the left (or right). This problem is illustrated in FIG. 1a, described further below, where one eye of the user is completely covered and obstructed by the hood. The other eye is partially covered which further obstructs the left view of the user.
The problem is particularly acute in jackets and coats designed for sportsmen such as fisherman, hunters, campers, hikers, etc. Typically the hooded jackets for sportsmen are designed to provide maximum protection in extreme conditions. Thus, the hood needs to protect the user's face and upper body by wrapping around the side of the face and extending beyond the face from above. In addition, to be comfortable, the hood should provide spacing between the user's head and the hood so that at least some ventilation around the hood is possible. Otherwise, the hood might cause condensation on eye glasses and may retain moisture that eventually will wet the head of the user. A relatively loose fitting hood often is more comfortable in the rain, because a tight fitting hood causes the user to actually feel raindrops on his head and neck. Also, a loose fitting hood is desirable to accommodate other head coverings that the user may wish to wear, such as a cap with a visor.
The advantages of a large, relatively loose fitting hood create corresponding problems. A large loose fitting hood exacerbates the obstruction problem as illustrated in FIG. 1a. Although a large, relatively loose hood provides desirable ventilation, such a configuration may tend to allow the hood to be blown from the user's head or be moved to an undesirable position. These problems are addressed by the present invention.